ISLAMABAD – Far away from the glitter of the modern world, in the barrendeserts of Central Africa, in an unfortunate and accursed country called“The Democratic Republic of Congo”, crawl some toddlers who call themselvesthe “Children of The Peacekeeperslink.”
These kids whose parentage is a fact folded in mystery and ambivalence, arethe only remaining memories of a UN Contingent which once administered areign of terror in these godforsaken marshlands. The said contingent notonly transgressed the limits prescribed in the UN Charter but also recededto a level which at the least was an insult to the very concept ofinternational peacekeeping.
Rape of innocent women, abuse of authority became an every day routine inthe country which already had seen more than 3 decades of civil war.
Woes and Miseries, of these ‘Lesser Children Of God’ who by virtue of theirfate came at the receiving end of the “services” rendered by thiscontingent, piled up rapidly.
Horrendous stories of misdeeds became such a regular narration that theyattained the status of folklores which still continue to draw tears in manyeyes.
UN, for the first time in its history had to reprimand a servingcontingent and demanded adequate and stern action against the“culprits.”The demand in its very self was a sick and inconsiderate joke asthe referred-to “culprit”was the entire fabric of the then incumbentcontingent which included ranks and files alike.
Any meaningful and deserving action against the top brass of the contingentwas neither intended nor desired, all that was required of the reprimandexercise was an eyewash aimed at the international donors.
A farcelinkwasthus conducted and several junior officers and soldiers were sacrificed atthe altar of redemption. The senior lot and the persona- designata incommand was not only let off but later decorated for this “Praise WorthyPerformance.”
We talk of this 2008 deformed chapter of history today because the“contingent” we refer to was the “Indian Army” contingent of MONUSCO andthe man in-charge of this mission was the one who most recently gotpromoted to the four star rank of the Chief of The Army Staff of India“General Bipin Rawat.”
By: Anika Sheikh